Keep Looking!

Something went wrong.

March 2018 Lawrence Rent Report

Welcome to the March 2018 Lawrence Rent Report. Lawrence rents remained steady over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Lawrence rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.

March 2018 Lawrence Rent Report

Welcome to the March 2018 Lawrence Rent Report. Lawrence rents remained steady over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Lawrence rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.

Lawrence rent trends were flat over the past month

Lawrence rents have remained flat over the past month, however, they have increased significantly by 5.4% year-over-year. Currently, median rents in Lawrence stand at $1,340 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,670 for a two-bedroom. Lawrence's year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 2.7%, as well as the national average of 2.3%.

Rents rising across the Boston Metro

Throughout the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in the city of Lawrence, but across the entire metro. Of the largest 10 cities that we have data for in the Boston metro, all of them have seen prices rise. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.

Somerville has seen the fastest rent growth in the metro, with a year-over-year increase of 6.5%. The median two-bedroom there costs $2,040, while one-bedrooms go for $1,640.

Haverhill has the least expensive rents in the Boston metro, with a two-bedroom median of $1,480; rents grew 0.6% over the past month and 2.5% over the past year.

Newton has the most expensive rents of the largest cities in the Boston metro, with a two-bedroom median of $2,240; rents were up 1.1% over the past month and 2.8% over the past year.

Many large cities nationwide show more affordable rents compared to Lawrence

As rents have increased significantly in Lawrence, large cities nationwide have seen rents grow more modestly, or in some cases, even decline. Compared to most large cities across the country, Lawrence is less affordable for renters.

Rents increased slightly in other cities across the state, with Massachusetts as a whole logging rent growth of 2.7% over the past year. For example, rents have grown by 1.1% in Worcester.

Lawrence's median two-bedroom rent of $1,670 is above the national average of $1,160. Nationwide, rents have grown by 2.3% over the past year compared to the 5.4% increase in Lawrence.

While Lawrence's rents rose significantly over the past year, some cities nationwide saw decreases, including Baltimore (-0.3%) and DC (-0.1%).

Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Lawrence than most large cities. For example, Philadelphia has a median 2BR rent of $1,160, where Lawrence is nearly one-and-a-half times that price.

For more information check out our
national report.
You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at
this link.

City

Median 1BR price

Median 2BR price

M/M price change

Y/Y price change

Boston

$1,660

$2,060

0.5%

2.7%

Lowell

$1,220

$1,510

0.5%

3.7%

Cambridge

$1,770

$2,190

0.3%

2.8%

Brockton

$1,320

$1,640

1.4%

2.0%

Quincy

$1,460

$1,820

0.7%

3.0%

Newton

$1,800

$2,240

1.1%

2.8%

Lawrence

$1,340

$1,670

0.2%

5.4%

Somerville

$1,640

$2,040

1.3%

6.5%

Framingham

$1,480

$1,840

2.0%

3.4%

Haverhill

$1,190

$1,480

0.6%

2.5%

Waltham

$1,610

$2,000

0.2%

-0.7%

Malden

$1,410

$1,750

-1.0%

1.6%

Brookline

$2,060

$2,560

-0.9%

-1.7%

Medford

$1,640

$2,040

1.2%

1.4%

Revere

$1,460

$1,810

0.1%

1.4%

Peabody

$1,450

$1,790

0.5%

5.4%

Marlborough

$1,200

$1,510

2.9%

5.5%

Woburn

$1,520

$1,880

-0.2%

4.0%

Chelsea

$1,510

$1,880

-0.4%

2.6%

See more

Methodology - Recent Updates:

Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.

Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.

Methodology:

Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.

Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.

About Rent Reports:

Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.

We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.